Flying before Falling
by quietcharm
Summary: It begins with Roger Davies and ends with a Christmas kiss. A glimpse at the world of Ravenclaw and the life of Cho Chang and her classmates. One-shot.


Roger Davies is not having a good day. At breakfast, two first year Ravenclaws spill their pumpkin juice all over his freshly written treatise on the importance of standarised wand movements in spell casting, particularly in charms work. Penelope does her best with a combination scour and evaporation spell, but his scrolls are still a pale shade of orange and smell of pumpkin when he places them on Professor Flitwick's desk.

Professor McGonagall is distinctly unimpressed with his transfiguration attempt (mittens into kittens) and the less said about the freak outbreak of poisonous dogwood in the greenhouse, the better. The only bright spot is going to the infirmary and confirming yes, his seeker has sufficiently recovered from her knee injuries and can be reinstated. He hopes for a sympathetic ear from Cho, and if he is being really honest, possibly a tender look or snog wouldn't be amiss.

Unfortunately, Cho seems determined to head right back into the infirmary. As soon as they reach the pitch, she immediately launches herself to a dizzying height.

"Cho! What in the name of Rowena are you doing? I promised Madame Pomfrey that I wouldn't let you overexert yourself! Are you completely mad?" Roger catches up with her, panic making him breathless.

The smile she gives him nearly tips him off his broom.

"Not mad at all – I've missed this so much – do you know how maddening it is to be confined in bed all the time? And she wouldn't put me by a window, so I couldn't see the sky, either. I feel _wonderful_."

"Yeah, well…we missed you." Roger clears his throat nervously. "I…missed you, too."

Cho doesn't say anything for a moment, and Roger worries that maybe this time he's said too much.

When she replies, he can't help feeling both relieved and disappointed at her answer.

"So I heard. I can't believe you lot lost to Hufflepuff." Cho laughs, and then dives into a perfect Llewellyn swing underneath him.

If she isn't going to break his heart, she's going to break his nerves.

He chases her, like always.

Cho spends the better part of the afternoon in the air, with Roger watching from below. She goes through all the standard Ravenclaw flight drills with ease, and Roger thinks they might have a fighting chance against the Hufflepuffs.

By the time Cho finishes her stamina drill, a small crowd surrounds Roger. Most of the students are fellow Ravenclaws, with a few stray Gryffindors, but it's the presence of the new Hufflepuff Quidditch captain Cedric Diggory, that upsets Roger the most. Roger can't help but dislike Diggory even though his rational mind points out that Cedric is quite a nice chap, really.

Barring the off-putting tallness, the hair that looks like a surprised hedgehog on anyone else (it has to be Dark Arts, he always manages to look artfully tousled), and his easy smile (no one smiles that much without an agenda), Cedric is perfectly decent.

Roger tries to remember this when he sees the way Cedric's eyeing Cho.

"So that's your new seeker, Davies? She's quite good."

"Considering she just got out of the infirmary, I would say she's better than good, actually. I'll be putting Martin back into reserve for our next game; Cho will be playing with us from now on."

"I look forward to seeing her at the next match, then –" Cedric stops, and frowns. "What is she doing?"

Roger glances at the patch of sky Cho occupies, and feels his heart drop. Instead of circling the pitch in a slow descent as she usually does, Cho is diving – and _falling off her broom_ into empty air.

Cedric rushes through the crowd and takes out his wand. "Leviosarepellum!"

It stops Cho's free fall and she floats down into Cedric's waiting arms.

When Roger finally makes his way through the excited crowd, Cedric is still holding Cho, and talking to her softly.

Roger catches "—you were trying a Wronski feint, then?" and Cho's quiet, "I _was_…at the rate I was going, more like a Wronski splatter."

Cedric laughs.

Roger decides he definitely hates Diggory.

After a short examination, Madame Pomfrey sniffs that it was probably fatigue and overexertion that caused Cho's fall and warns her to not be so careless next time, "or I'll suggest to that captain of yours that he keep you under strict bed rest."

Roger will probably love that, Cho thinks, and bites her lip. It isn't that she doesn't like Roger; it's just that he's her captain, and she has enough trouble being the only girl on the team, without the addition of any rumored privileges of being the captain's girlfriend.

She can practically hear the insinuations – "Davies only picked her because he fancied her, and now she's got the entire team under her command."

Fat chance there – most of the time the boys are embarrassed and overly careful about their behavior toward her off the pitch, when she isn't their team mate, but Cho Chang, _girl. _She has her own changing room away from the common locker room, at Roger's insistence. She has an older brother, it's not as if she hasn't seen any of their bits before, but it is probably a blessing to avoid all the inevitable towel slapping and sweat jokes. Boys are so _odd_.

Cedric is waiting for her when she leaves the infirmary. So is Roger, who's standing neck deep in Hufflepuffs. Some of the Hufflepuffs are carrying potted plants and covered baskets. Roger is scowling, and Cho guesses this has to do with the way Cedric's smiling at her. It's like standing underneath a sunbeam, but she takes Roger's arm instead and politely declines when a first year Hufflepuff offers her a blueberry scone. She has her loyalties to the team to consider, after all.

Still, she sneaks a glance behind, and Cedric's still there, bemused and eating the blueberry scone she left. She vows to write him a thank you note later.

They haven't gone more than twenty steps when Roger says, "I don't like him. Not that I'm not grateful for his help, but really, the situation was _well_ in hand –"

Roger blusters on, and Cho lets his words slide over her like a comfortable old blanket. He is dependable in his jealousy, and it's easier to tease him about it than his feelings for her. "Oh, I don't know. He's pretty quick."

"I suppose he has to be. Seeker and all that."

"He is? I thought he was a beater, from his build."

"That's what you would think, wouldn't you? But no, Diggory's got it into his head that he can be team Captain and Seeker. Well, he's going to need all the luck he can get, with that team he's inherited."

Roger rants on amusingly as they make their way to Ravenclaw Tower. To listen to him, Cedric is apparently a wanker of the highest order because he is a "tall flash bastard who looms over everyone and everything," and "just because he's pretty, he thinks he can get away with everything." Roger's rant is suddenly less amusing after that remark.

Cho quietly asks, "Do you think that about me, then?"

Before Roger crams more of his foot into his mouth, Cho turns and enters the swinging bookcase that divides the dormitories.

Cho knows she's pretty, but it's like saying, "Books have words and pictures inscribed in them" or "Professor Flitwick is exceptionally short." A boring fact - from the first time her mum tied silver ribbons in her hair and passed her around to admiring relatives, to her granny saying she wouldn't need a matchmaker unlike poor cousin Diana ("they had to go overseas, before that girl got married off, the shame of it"), to her father proudly displaying her picture on the wall of his shop (before she snuck in one day and placed a dead-eye hex on it), Cho knows in some ways, she has less to prove than other girls.

It doesn't make her any more comfortable with people's stares.

The truth is, Cho likes her hair and her eyes and her skin, but she hates her knees and the way her left elbow is just a little bit fleshier than her right, and how even at fourth year, she has to wear a first year skirt and robe because she's so short. She likes the dimple in her left cheek when she smiles, because it reminds her of her mother's. Her father says she has his nose and her granny's long, delicate hands.

Her brother helpfully adds that she also has the temper of a stung donkey and sticky out ears, but not everyone can be perfect.

Cho knows that in some circles at Hogwarts, there are whispers about her, and how the word 'perfect' and 'stuck up' seem to follow each other, hand in hand. She knows that there are expectations in the way she looks and the way she acts, so she smiles at everyone, even the Slytherins, although they probably don't deserve it.

Some days, Cho doesn't think she deserves it either. Even though she knows her parents are proud of her, when she looks at her brother's face, she feels their disappointment that he's not at Hogwarts with her. Their firstborn, born into a family with bloodlines traced back to emperors and wizard kings, and yet, not a hint of magical ability. Instead, fortune had smiled on their daughter, a pretty consolation prize – who had enchanted her teddy bear to rock her to sleep when she was just three.

On days like those, Cho unlocks her trunk and searches for her acceptance letter from Hogwarts.

It is buried three feet deep beneath sweaters, a spare set of Quidditch robes, her journals, and a jewelry box with a false bottom. The jewelry box is a present from her mother, who used it when she was at school – apparently, the false bottom is handy for hiding sweets and love letters in. Once, Cho rolled up a transfiguration essay she had gotten perfect marks on and slid it into the hiding space. She removed it after a day – it just wasn't the same.

Even though the ink has faded and the edges of the parchment are in tatters from repeated handling, Cho spreads it carefully open and traces every word with her finger. She lingers over the Hogwarts crest, the words 'delighted' and 'welcome', until finally she's tracing her own name. Cho Chang…_belongs here_, she always writes.

Cho receives an owl just before she goes to bed. Amelia Boddingsley, her roommate, hears the owl tapping and coaxes it inside before Penelope does her nightly check-in.

Marietta Edgecombe has the bed next to Cho's, and notices immediately the owl is from the school owlery. "Oooo, who's writing to you at school, then?"

Cho feeds the owl a bit of smuggled pumpkin pie pasty, and shrugs. "I haven't the faintest idea."

Which is a perfect lie, as she knows the note is from Cedric. She had sent her owl before dinner, and he must have gotten it soon after.

He had written, _"You're welcome. Next time you want to try the Wronski feint, let me know – I don't think Davies' reflexes are up to the task. Are you going to the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor match on Saturday?"_

She had planned on studying and cross indexing her Charms project, but it won't hurt to take a few minutes out and see how he flies.

In the end, everyone talks more about how scary the Dementors were and Harry Potter's spectacular fall than they do over Hufflepuff's last minute win. Cho feels sorry for Harry and Cedric both – Harry because it was his first Quidditch match of the year, and Cedric, because he can't even enjoy a fair victory.

She tells Cedric so in a morning owl.

In the afternoon, a tawny owl accosts her on the way to Arithmancy.

"_It's to be expected – have you seen Potter fly? He's really quite good. I was nowhere near that coordinated when I was his age. It's okay about the other thing as well, my fellow Hufflepuffs congratulated me and that's enough. I hear your team is up against the Gryffindors next – good luck. Harry's a speedy one when he doesn't have a Dementor in his way."_

As if she didn't have eyes – Roger had ordered her to step up on her speed drills – between him and Oliver Wood, she was at a loss as to who was more zealous.

In his role as Quidditch Captain, Roger is strict and efficient – but once he steps off the pitch, he becomes more reserved and hesitant. Ever since the Cedric incident, he measures his words carefully around Cho, knows that the tentative peace between them can be shattered with a stray sentence, a whispered admission. It's easier to be her Captain than her friend.

When he hears Potter's recently received a genuine Firebolt, he becomes even more ruthless.

Cho and the rest of the team fly laps every day for two weeks. When she's not practicing or studying, Cho spends as much time as possible walking the grounds of Hogwarts. She didn't think she would ever miss the ground beneath her feet, but after enduring constant speed drills with Roger bellowing, "Faster, fly FASTER," and multiple warming spells to soothe her chapped hands and face, Cho appreciates the ability to stop, sit down and just _stay_ in one place. Sometimes she brings a thermos of tea and a book and finds a cozy place to read.

Lately, she's been reading Muggle literature her brother sends by falcon. Shakespeare is interesting, if derivative – her brother had written, "Wizard or Muggle?" on the folio's attached note. She doesn't understand half of Spenser, and tries a translation spell on the Faerie Queene with lackluster results. When he sends her novels, she decides she doesn't care for Hardy's prose – obviously there was a reason Jude was so bloody obscure, but Hardy's poetry was amusing. Austen is much better, though Cho finds herself secretly attracted to Bingley more than Darcy. _Poor idiot_, she thinks, _all you wanted is someone like you._

Her latest book is one her brother swears she will love – Alice in Wonderland.

Cedric finds Cho asleep near the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw, in the clearing next to the greenhouses. He's supposed to be collecting samples for Madame Sprout's latest Herbology assignment, but splits off from his mates for a bit of peace and quiet.

Cho's curled up on a bench with a book tucked protectively against her chest and a thermos near her feet. She looks like a frost fairy, her dark robes and blue scarf emphasizing her pale gold skin, her hair a black pool around her head. He tries to nudge her awake, but she stubbornly sleeps on, even snores a little. Cedric smiles, and carefully lifts her legs so he can sit on the bench with her.

Cho dreams she's back home again, asleep in her own bed, with the family cat purring at her feet. She feels so warm and content, that it's not much of a shock when the cat begins speaking. "Cho," Domino meows. "You're a weird bird, aren't you?"

"I am not." Cho yawns, and stretches. "I think I'm terribly patient and kind considering you're the most aggravating cat on earth. Remember who stayed up when you were having kittens?"

Domino purrs, "Maybe I just can't figure you out."

"Maybe I like it that way. Besides, what's there to figure out? I bring your food and scratch behind your ears, and I make sure you don't catch your tail when I open the door. What more do you want of me?"

"Hmmm. Breakfast in bed would be a start." Her cat delicately washes a paw and looks askance at her, and Cho swears Domino winks.

"Now who's being weird? Besides, you'd make a terrible mess."

Domino is about to reply, when Cho hears, "CEDRIC! OI, DIGGORY, WHERE ARE YOU, MATE?"

Domino disappears in a flash, and Cho wakes up.

As they walk back to the greenhouses, Cedric's roommate Gaz asks him where he's been. Cedric smiles evasively and says, "Oh…just walking about."

"Well, did you get any decent samples?"

Cedric thinks of Cho's sleepy answers and the way she wrinkles her nose in concentration, and grins. "Might have done, yeah."

The day before the match, she sends Cedric an owl. He's become part of a new ritual she's not quite sure of, another voice in the crowd, only she wants to listen to what he has to say.

Two hours before she's due on the field, Cho sits in the communal Ravenclaw locker room, and nervously buckles and unbuckles her arm guards. Her Comet 360 lies next to her, handle freshly polished, bristles trimmed. Roger and the Beaters are huddled in a corner talking maneuvers and offensive tactics, while one of the chasers, Harrison is busy autographing a Quidditch schedule for a giddy Terry Boot. Terry waves at her and mouths, "Isn't this absolutely _brilliant_?"

She smiles at him and says, "Yeah, absolutely." After Terry secures Roger's embarrassed autograph, he walks over and sticks the schedule in front of her face. She laughs and signs underneath Roger's hurried scrawl, "To the #1 fan, thanks! Love, Cho."

"You'll fly fine, you know." Terry reassures her.

"I know – I'm not worried about that. It's just that Harry's really good. And he has a Firebolt. How am I supposed to compete against that?"

"Well, you can't really. Lee Jordan was telling me that it's a top of the line broom and they only produced a limited number, and – I'm not helping, am I?"

"Not really, no." Cho twists her robe between her hands and tries to take deep breaths. She's flown against difficult opponents before, but somehow, flying against Harry Potter makes the expectations weightier on her shoulders.

Before she knows it, Roger is back with the entire team, and they gently nudge her onto her feet. Terry cheerily tells her that he'll meet her afterwards for post match tea and sympathy, and disappears into the waiting crowd outside.

Roger holds out his hand. "Come on, Cho. It's just a game."

Face to face, Harry Potter is a lot less imposing than his unofficial moniker. The– Boy-who-lived is barely a head taller than she is, and he keeps on averting his eyes whenever she smiles at him. It's quite sweet, in a soppy sort of way. Wood and Davies greet each other in the monosyllabic way they do, and the game is on.

In the air, Harry loses his blushing stammer and flies like he's part bird. It's quite clear to Cho that he's a damn good flier and his reflexes are incredible. If she were to race him, she would lose by the sheer fact that Harry wants it more. She decides to experiment and cuts sharply in Harry's way. Harry goes purple and nearly gives himself whiplash trying to avoid her broom.

She can hear Oliver Wood screaming at her back, and grins. Well, whatever works…

By her third dash and sway, Cho is thoroughly enjoying herself. She's never flown so well in her life, and Harry's chivalry is really quite adorable. She would have body slammed anyone else if she had to, but all she does is flit in Harry's general direction and he goes all wobbly.

She hasn't seen the snitch yet, but she's having too much fun to really care. Until she sees the Dementor in the stands.

Harry's never looked cooler than when he calmly dispatches the Dementor. Cho's quite impressed – a full size Patronus at his age? She catches herself and smiles. She's starting to sound like Cedric.

Roger is subdued when they talk about strategies and defensive maneuvers at the next Quidditch meeting. None of her fellow teammates will talk to her, and when she asks Roger why, he says it's because they're uncomfortable about what she did to Harry. Cho can't believe her ears. "What I did to Harry? I didn't slam him into the stadium walls or aim a bludger at his head. I didn't set fire to his broom or try to grab onto it with my hands. All I did was a little flying."

Turner, a generally mild and sensible Beater snorts, and says, "You were flirting with him and generally being a distraction. It's not the same thing as flying fair."

"Flying fair?"

There's a definite edge to Cho's voice.

Roger winces and tries to intervene. "Now, Cho…"

When Cho explodes, she is eerily calm, every word like an icicle to the brain. "If any of you come up with the phrase 'womanly wiles' in the next five minutes, I swear on Dumbledore's beard, that I will hex you to the Great Hall and back. Flirting with Potter? He's a third year and can barely look me in the eye. I couldn't beat him flying, so I switched tactics and decided to do defensive flying instead. He was a complete gentleman about it, which is more than I can say for any of _you_. And also? It's Quidditch. It's for fun, not about beating each other bloody senseless. Pardon me if I happen to think differently."

"Cho, that's enough." Roger is using his best captain voice, but even he quails at the look Cho shoots him. "Fine. I'm done. Let me know when the next council of morals and values meets, alright?"

Turner sulks and says, "I liked it better when Martin was our seeker."

Roger loses his patience and snaps, "When Martin can execute a perfect looping Fawkes pinwheel without getting ill all over the pitch, I'll reconsider taking him out of reserve. Until then, Cho is the best seeker we have, and I don't want any more of this nonsense at the next meeting. Not a word, Turner, do you hear me?"

Cho is still fuming when she gets the latest owl from Cedric. The note does not improve her mood. If anything, it makes it worse.

"_Bit shameless out there on the pitch, don't you think? I mean, you're still a top flier, but Potter is a very young lad. He has enough problems as it is. However, you're more than welcome to fly in my way if you so choose. See you soon, your friend Cedric."_

In the Great Hall, Cedric gets the shock of his life when a large raven drops a full size scroll into his soup, splashing his front and poor Eloise Midgen's face.

He fishes the scroll out, whispers a quick evaporo spell, and cautiously unrolls the scroll.

Ink splatters all over his face. In the stunned silence that follows, Cedric wipes his face and turns to look over at the Ravenclaws. Cho is sitting with Penelope and Lisa and concentrating on a heavy book in front of her. It's in the way she sits, stiff and straight that convinces him she's deliberately ignoring him. He turns back to the parchment and laughs. The remaining ink blots have congealed into words and sentences, and Cedric reads, _"No more tricks. Prepare to be flattened, Diggory, and I might even be nice and smile at you before I get the snitch."_

Eloise pointed at his face and squeaked. "Cedric, you've gone green!"

Now he swears he can hear a muffled laugh.

It was definitely going to be an interesting game.

The day of the match comes bright and clear. All the Hufflepuffs have turned out to cheer him on, and Madame Sprout is wearing a new hat. He feels like he's swallowed some of Flitwick's pixie bugs, as his skin feels all jittery and tense. He knows that Ravenclaw has a very weak defense side, as they had to replace one of their Beaters, and the new Beater has only a week of training under his belt. However, their chasers are superb, and Cho…well, he'll worry about that once he is in the air.

As he calls his teammates in a huddle, he gives them their instructions: "I want hard and fast flying from all of you – especially toward the Beaters. Turner got sacked and some new bloke called Donovan is in his place, he has a wild swing, so watch out for that. However, Bloom and Harrison are still flying as swift as ever, so avoid them if you can. Davies will do a lot of fancy flight work, but is essentially a pushover. The seeker – you leave her to me. Alright?"

"Yes, Cedric." Perfect chorus.

"Okay. Good flying, everyone!"

He notices that Cho's got her hair pulled back in a rather intricate braid. No friendly flash of long black hair to beckon or hinder, he supposes. Cho only looks at him archly when their eyes meet, and sticks out her chin. She does not smile.

Cedric sticks out his hand anyway. "Good game to you, then, Chang."

She pauses, before taking his hand and shaking it firmly. "Same to you, Diggory."

He doesn't linger on the fact that her hand is practically swallowed up in his own.

Hooch blows the whistle to start.

The game is long and brutal. Donovan turns out to be rubbish at complicated flight patterns, but is eerily spot on once the Bludger is in his possession – Cedric narrowly misses being brained by him twice. Harrison and Bloom fly in perfect synchronization, splitting and conquering his chasers one by one.

The real surprise is Cho. Not only does she relentlessly tail him, she dives into a Llewellyn swing underneath his broom to come out ahead of him. She body checks him twice – despite her petite stature, her flying speed combined with regulation Quidditch padding makes contact painful. Cedric winces and rubs his bruised shoulder.

On one of his laps around the stadium he sees Cho dive. Instinctively, he veers after her – and sees the snitch, glittering temptingly in the sun. Cho is already on her way toward it – and he urges his broom along, but Cho has other ideas, and when she pulls herself up onto her broom and lunges for the snitch, Cedric is too surprised to react. Cho's broom zips right underneath her and catches her landing. Cho steadies herself, raises up her fist. Cedric sees the snitch wriggling in her hand.

The stadium suddenly blooms with blue and bronze banners and Ravenclaw House cheer wildly as Lee Jordan takes a breath and shouts, "And Cho Chang, Ravenclaw seeker has got the snitch!"

Cedric watches as the Ravenclaw team surges toward Cho – Roger Davies grabs her around the waist and yells, "That's my girl!"

Cho meets his eyes and then smiles. Maybe it's the sun shining or the adrenaline flowing in his veins, but the flash of white against her lip makes him feel like he could do another six laps around the stadium and not mind a bit.

When they're on ground again and shaking the opposing team's hands, Cedric looks for Cho. She's missing from the line up, and as he's shaking Bloom's hand, he leans in and asks, "Where's Chang?"

Bloom grins and says, "Oh, she left already to change. Said something about an Arithmancy exam afterwards."

"Oh really? So, she's in the locker room, then?" Cedric wonders if the famed Ravenclaw cleverness will kick in, but Bloom is oblivious to anything but the crowd's adoration. "No, she has her own changing room just off ours. Terry's probably bringing her tea right now."

"Brilliant. Great game, by the way." Cedric slaps Bloom's back and tries not to laugh as Bloom calls out after him. "Oh thanks, you too mate. No hard feelings, then?"

_**It is a popular, if erroneous assumption that Hufflepuffs are stupid. They're just clever in other ways**_.

Cedric spots Terry just as he's about to turn the handle on Cho's changing room. He assumes the boy is Terry, at any rate, unless Cho regularly gets gentlemen callers with their own porcelain tea services.

He is a skinny gangly fellow, all elbows and knees, and Cedric decides he's absolutely not worthy of Cho.

"Excuse me, you're Terry, right? Or is it Terrence?"

The boy pushes his fringe out of his eyes, and coolly looks at Cedric. "Only my mother calls me Terrence. What do you want?"

"Just a quick word, that's all, mate. How long have you known Cho?"

Terry suddenly grins and rolls his eyes. "Is that all? Look, we're just friends. I'm not interested in her at all."

Cedric feels irrationally upset on Cho's behalf, but doesn't push the issue. "Well then, Terry – how about I take the tea in this time?"

Terry looks like he's about to decline, but then shrugs, and says, "Why not. I've got a few questions to ask the other players anyway. Just leave the tea trolley in the room, I'll get it afterwards."

"Absolutely, thanks. I'll tell Cho you said hello, right?"

Terry only snorts and mutters, "I'm sure you will."

When Cedric opens the door, a cloud of steam wafts out and temporarily blinds him. He blinks, and then blinks again. Cho is standing in the middle of the room, wearing nothing more than a towel.

Her hair is wet and hangs around her face in waves, and he sees that the match has left its mark on her as well – bruises dot her arms like gaudy flowers, and there's a particularly nasty one forming on her thigh. Despite this, he still thinks her beautiful.

He clears his throat and says, "So, do you always get naked for tea, or is this just a Ravenclaw quirk?"

To her credit, Cho does not scream or throw things at him. If anything, she stands up straighter and Cedric tries hard not to stare at the delightful way her chest sticks out.

"You're not Terry."

Cedric mentally makes a note to find Terry later and kick him to blazes.

"No, I'm not. But I could pretend, if you wish…"

Was that a hint of a smile on Cho's face? "Only if you pretend to be in love with Roger Davies as well. Boot's been mad about him ever since second year."

The name Boot plus Terry, finally rings a bell, and Cedric splutters, "Terry _Boot_? Do you mean to say that he fancies…boys?"

Cho grins, and reaches for another towel. "He does have a thing for Quidditch players. Fit boys only, though – I've got all the wrong bits and I'm too short, besides."

She wraps the towel around her head, and looks around for her wand. Cedric spots it near her clothes and hands it to her. Cho nods her thanks and points the wand at her head – "Convecto!" Instantly, steam rises from the turban, and Cho pulls it off, her now dry hair cascading around her shoulders.

Cedric whistles, and says, "Impressive. I usually just let the air dry my hair."

Cho critically eyes his head and says, "Yes, that would explain so much. Hand me my clothes, would you?"

They spend the next few minutes in silence, as Cedric pulls each garment from the pile and hands it to Cho. She does not make him leave, instead turns her back on him and pulls her hair in front. Cho puts on her underwear first, sliding one leg through and then the other. Cedric doesn't realize he's been holding his breath until Cho slowly unwinds her towel and drops it on the floor. Her back is a wonder, all pale skin and muscles moving as she wriggles her way into a soft blue top. He notices that she dresses slowly, makes sure that the cloth doesn't brush against her bruised skin. There's a tie on the back and without prompting, he laces it up.

He leans down, and kisses her bare neck. "You know we're doing this all backwards, don't you?"

Cho shudders, and says nothing.

He helps her into her skirt, pulling the pleats apart so they don't bunch against her thighs, and drops a kiss near her hip. She sighs, and when he's done pulling the blue and grey sweater over her head, he finally turns her around and leans in to kiss her properly. Her arms automatically go over his shoulders as she squirms closer and he grins against her mouth.

He breaks off for a gulp of air. "You know, you promised me a smile _before_ you caught the snitch."

Cho pulls him toward her and kisses him, her hands on each side of his face. "Shut up, Diggory," she says between kisses.

Cedric obliges and maneuvers them so that he's sitting on the bench, with Cho in his lap.

Cho ends up being fifteen minutes late for her makeup Arithmancy exam.

Professor Vector frowns at her disapprovingly, but relents when she notices Cho's unusually flushed. "Really, Miss Chang, if you were feeling unwell, you could have asked me for an extension. Or do I need to talk to Mr. Davies about less Quidditch practices and more study time?"

Cho blushes, and says she'll be punctual, next time.

As Cedric is in the year above her, Cho doesn't expect to see him very much outside of Quidditch matches.

So it's a pleasant surprise when she turns up at the pitch for an early morning practice drill, and Cedric is already there.

"Good day for flying, don't you think?" He hands her a croissant and points at a blanket spread nearby. "What do you think about breakfast afterwards?"

She takes the croissant and bites into it. "That'd be lovely."

They spend more time talking than actually flying. Cedric informs her that he had the difficult task of breaking it to Hannah Abbott that her dreams of having bouncy little blonde children with Boot was a pipe dream, and that there had been much weeping. Their stuffed badger had gotten soaked in the process, and Ernie had enchanted it to say, "Oi, so he's a fairy, get over it" causing Hannah to cry even more.

Cho tells Cedric that she found a parchment scribbled full of "Mrs. Penelope Clearwater-Weasley" in the Ravenclaw common room, and that Padma Patil had enchanted it to glow pink whenever Penelope came into the room.

Cedric's favorite color is blue, and she offers up green – green like spring grass and shallots. Cedric asks, "Not Slytherin green then?" and Cho throws a half-eaten croissant at his head. He ducks and laughs. "Slytherin scares me – I know it's silly, but they do."

"They're just students, Cho – I mean, okay, Snape's a scary bugger, but they're not all bad. I figure, you can't choose your House, it chooses you."

"Do you really believe that?" Cedric's floating idly, circling a spot in the grass with his shoe. He looks up at her and flashes _that grin_, the one that always makes her feel like she needs to sit down and lean against something sturdy.

"Do you think I don't know what they say about Hufflepuff? We're not all a bunch of duffers and knobheads, you know." He pauses, reconsiders. "Alright, Finch-Fletchley is a bit of a knobhead, but he's young, and I'm sure he'll grow out of it."

"Cedric, you shouldn't say such things about your housemates." Cho tries to be stern but can't help giggling at the unrepentant smirk Cedric gives her. "And who's they? _I_ never thought that about Hufflepuff House."

At his enquiring look, she says, "My mum was in Hufflepuff. She thought it was the best house, because it was full of hard workers."

"Your mum's a smart woman –and oh look, you're in Ravenclaw."

"Yeah, she was a bit gutted about it. I just thought, I don't care what house I'm in, I just can't wait to look at the library."

Cedric chuckles."Typical Ravenclaw."

When they finish two hours later, the breakfast is cold. Cho protests against the erroneous allegation that "Ravenclaws do it for bookplates" while Cedric defends his house, saying, "Look, we're just friendly, okay? We're not interested in being aloof like you lot." Cho sniffs, "Maybe we just think there's more to hello than sticking your tongue down someone's throat." Cedric groans at that and says, "You shatter my illusions, Chang. We could have been in Hufflepuff together."

He floats closer and whispers, "Besides, I seem to recall a certain tongue…" he trails off, and winks at her.

Cho flushes, and tries not to stammer. "That was….extenuating circumstances…I was just…caught up in the moment."

Cedric raises an eyebrow at her, and says thoughtfully, "I see. Was it the tea service? The Earl Grey? I can bring Darjeeling next time, you know."

"Who says there's going to be a next time?" Cho turns and tries to walk away, but Cedric's still on his broom and easily catches up with her, swiftly trapping her in his arms.

"Chang, why must you be so difficult?" Cedric murmurs into her ear, and then lets her go.

Cho feels the weight of the apple in her hand before she recognizes it, red and shiny against her palm.

When it gets out that Sirius Black has broken into Hogwarts, she spends all her free time in the library, reading up on defensive spells and counter charms. Her housemates form study groups and infiltrate the third floor of the library, despite Professor Lupin's terse instructions to leave it to the teachers. He's been looking even more drawn and worn lately, and Cho worries about him. While he's not her favorite professor, he's always been kind and fair, a peg above that fraud Lockhart.

She tries to talk to Professor Flitwick about it, but Flitwick's preoccupied with teaching all the portraits how to spot Black at five paces.

Other, smaller changes are occurring all over Hogwarts – Penelope's placed an anti owl barrier around all the windows of Ravenclaw tower and informs everyone that owls are regulated to deliveries within the Great Hall and at emergency posts outside the library.

Quidditch practice has been cancelled for an indefinite time, with all upcoming matches put on hold. Roger starts showing up at the library and asks if he can help.

She's so busy that she completely forgets about Cedric.

Until she leaves the library one afternoon, and finds a chain of owls waiting for her.

The notes are all from Cedric.

The first one reads, _"So Black has broken through. All the little ones in Hufflepuff are frightened senseless, so I have been kept busy telling them that no, they will not be murdered in their beds. Dumbledore wouldn't let that happen. Hope all is well with you and your house. Keep safe."_

The second is scrawled hastily on a spare piece of parchment, she can still read Cedric's herbology essay through the back of it.

"_Word is that Black is out to get Potter. Poor kid – can't catch a break anywhere, can he? I wouldn't like to be in his position, though I don't think anyone would, really. Classes are deadly dull, and I think Binns has gotten even more boring, if that's possible. Are you okay?"_

The third is on a clean parchment but there's a tear in it, as if Cedric pressed his quill too hard.

"_Cho, where are you? Davies won't tell me where you are, says you are doing secret Ravenclaw business, and every time I've gone in the library, you're not there. Are you hiding? _[Inkblots obscure the next sentence]_ to be presumptuous or anything, it's all been a laugh so far, but I just wondered. Send me an owl when you get this, please."_

Fourth one smells like potions and butterbeer.

"_According to my sources, you were clearly seen between the hallway of the Grey Lady and the Cherub with the naughty chest of arms. This is all very puzzling, I know I didn't make up that one time…are you upset with me? Cho?"_

The fifth one simply says, _"Same time, same place. I hope to see you there."_

Cho rushes down to the pitch.

Cedric is sitting on his broom, floating idly by the goalposts. When he sees her, he doesn't smile, just slowly descends until he's right in front of her.

"Cedric." She's afraid to move. "I got your owls."

He just stares at her, and then says, "I sent the last one two days ago. You were supposed to be here two days ago."

"I'm here now. And so are you. Did you….come every day?"

"Don't be daft. It's not like I was going to throw myself off of Ravenclaw tower if you didn't come." Cedric bites his lip and exhales. "Look, what is this?"

"What?" Cedric edges closer until he's close enough to touch. "_This_ – between us. Do you like me even a little, Cho?"

The question is so ridiculous and earnest and so _Cedric_, that Cho wants to kiss him right there, but doesn't. "Of course I like you, Cedric. I like you enormously."

Cedric raises an eyebrow at her. "So? The owls, did you not want to write me back…was I being too forward? You're a hard girl to figure out."

She reaches out, and tentatively, takes one of his hands in her own. "I've just been so busy trying to find out about the best defensive charms. Professor Lupin's been looking terrible lately, and Sirius Black hasn't been caught, and I guess I just…panicked. I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner, Cedric."

"You know Dumbledore wouldn't let anything happen to us. My father says the Ministry's going to send over more Dementors – "

"And then what? Cedric, please listen to me for a minute. I want us to be friends. It's just too mixed up right now - things are going a little fast, and I haven't done this before."

Cedric softly strokes her hand, and sighs. "Not even with Davies? He fancies you rotten, you know."

"Just because someone fancies you, it doesn't mean you automatically have to get off with them – you haven't, have you?" Cedric tries to look innocent, but ruins it by laughing. "I guess that'll have to be a part of me you'll get to know, later. Much later. Possibly after we leave Hogwarts."

"Pretty presumptuous of you – as if I'll still be speaking to you after Hogwarts," she teases back.

"You're a cruel woman, Chang." Cedric flutters his eyelashes and she laughs. "Friends, Cedric – _friends_. Okay? That means no kissing, or flirting, or anything that would shame our houses. I want to know the real Cedric Diggory. Not the fancy, pretty boy but all the important bits –"

Cedric interrupts, "I think I've seen all your important bits – hey, that stings!"

Cho demurely puts away her wand and continues, "As I was saying, I like you. I know you're kind and popular and that you're a good flier, and that no one in Hufflepuff house has a cross word to say about you. I want us to talk and not get all weird about what to say next without kissing getting in the way."

"Want, want want. Where do my wants come in this agreement?" Cedric asks with a smirk.

"I know what you want."

"Do you really, Cho? Do you really? Look, come here." She lets herself be towed closer and then Cedric grabs her by the waist and sits her on his broom.

He kicks off, and then they're in the air. "What are you doing?"

"You're the clever Ravenclaw, figure it out. I just," and then he wraps his arms around her and says, "Consider it a good bye present. This is the last time we're going to be flying around the pitch of frustrated sexual desire. After this, we'll be friends, right?"

"Oh," she breathes, and maybe it's her imagination, but Cedric holds her tighter after that, and they circle around the pitch silently.

When they finally land, Cedric lets go, and shakes her hand formally. "I hope you know, you're my first."

"What?"

"First friend that's a girl. Not girlfriend, obviously." Cedric dismounts from his broom and brushes himself off. Looks at her strangely. "You okay, Chang?"

"Fine. Brilliant. Just a little tired." Her head feels like goldfish are swimming in it.

"Well, let me walk you back to Ravenclaw Tower, then. If you feel faint at anytime, just let me know."

It's as if they're meeting for the first time again.

Life slowly reverts into familiar routine. One by one, the restrictions and barriers are lifted. Quidditch returns two weeks before Christmas – this year Cho decides to stay at Hogwarts instead of going home. She owls her parents and explains that she has a lot of exams to study for, and she feels better with the library _right there_. Her roommates slowly filter out, Marietta being the last one to go.

Her brother sends her _The Art of War_, while her parents send her presents and a heavy winter blanket. Cho goes flying, but doesn't see Cedric on the pitch. She feels strangely bereft.

She sometimes sees Cedric in the halls, but he's often surrounded by a herd of adoring Hufflepuffs, the most obvious hanger-on being Madeline Kingsbury, a glamorous sixth year.

Roger gets caught underneath the mistletoe with an ecstatic Terry Boot, and is forced to kiss him, while the Weasley twins pay Colin Creevey for the negatives.

Cho spends some afternoons in Hogsmeade, buying presents for her housemates. She runs into Madeline coming out of Vanya's Visions, and fripperies and lace fly everywhere, most of them in a sickeningly pastel shade of blue. She hands a garter belt to Madeline without comment, and flees the scene.

She tells herself it's for the best.

On Christmas Eve, the Ravenclaw Common Room is swathed with silvery fairy lights and painted paper ornaments courtesy of two third year Ravenclaws, Luna Lovegood and Su Li. Professor Flitwick lends them his phonograph, and Terry plays the Weird Sisters' Strange Brew until there's a worn out groove in the record. Despite this, he dances anyway, and soon the room is full of admiring whistles as Terry grabs Cho and delicately draws her into a waltz.

Not for the first time, Cho wishes Terry was a boy she could be interested in.

After twenty minutes of whirling about the room, Cho escapes to the kitchens for a hot drink.

She nearly walks into Cedric going around the corner. He steadies her shoulder and says softly, "Hey there."

Cedric looks the same as ever, maybe his hair's a little longer, but if anything, he's gotten better looking. He's wearing his robes unbuttoned and Cho sees that he's left his tie off, the pale hollow of his neck (_brazenly, she thinks_) on display.

She swallows.

"Cedric."

"How have you been?"

"Good. You?"

"I've been good. Could be better."

"That's good – I mean, I'm glad to hear that you're good." Cho remembers the hot mug in her hands and holds it out to Cedric. "I just got a hot chocolate, do you want one?"

"No thank you."

"Well…then, I'm going to go back – we're having a small get together, and Terry gets antsy if I leave him alone too long. It was …really nice seeing you, Cedric."

She hasn't gone more than five steps when Cedric calls out, "Wait a second, Cho."

She stops. Turns. And Cedric's there, his hands on her shoulders and she can practically breathe him, all soap and clean linen, and she's saying, "Cedric…."

He slides a fingertip under her chin. "Look up."

The mistletoe hangs above them, bobbing merrily in a golden orb of twinkling light.

Cedric leans in until he can look her in the eye, and asks, "Can I kiss you now?"

Cho thinks her voice might crack if she opens her mouth so she nods a tiny nod.

Cedric smiles, and murmurs, "Good, because I was going to anyway."

Cho closes her eyes. Cedric gently cradles her face in his hands, then sweetly kisses her on the forehead. Brushes against her eyelids, then slides next to her cheek. "Happy Christmas, Cho."


End file.
